What lack I yet?

Dearest Family and Friends,

I LOVE MY MISSION!

This week we gained 2 new investigators Alyona and Nazar. They are happiness and sunshine and oh so dear to me.

We had interviews with President Packer and he asked me about a goal I had for the next upcoming 3 months (until we have another interview). My desire, my goal, is to find someone with that real sincere desire to come unto Christ and to be baptized. I have the faith it can happen. The only way it can? If I have the exact same desire. I have to GIVE ALL OF ME to God, and to do that I have to talk to every single person, give them of my love and my heart, leave their day happier than before, serve at any chance, really focus on others and trying to do as Christ would do so that they really can come unto Him through our invitation and our lessons and our smiles and love. It is my desire and I want to give it my all. I want to give the children of God all of me. I am his servant through and through and I so love it. I want him to have the chance to really work through me. So I needed to step it up even more. Get better at repenting and trying harder every day to be a better person for Him and for His children. I had this day when I just felt so discouraged with myself. We are doing good work but it was after I had been home the whole day the day before as my companion was really really sick. I took care of her, washed the whole house, tried to call people and talk to them on the phone about the gospel but it was Ukraine's "old new year's day" and so everyone was busy. I started to go nuts. I exercised and I read the scriptures for 3 hours. I read 40 pages in my Russian book of mormon out loud and then the next day my comp was better and all our lessons fell through. We waited at the church and no buddy came to our family home evening activity. Our Branch President does not have faith we can bring people back who are lost or that we will have baptisms and that was really hard!! So the next day at lunch time I took a notebook and I wrote out all the things I needed to repent for and how I can give more to the lord. I went to him in prayer, sincerely wanting to be better and to ask him "what lack I yet?" It was a very sweet experience as he helped to change my feelings of discouragement into a platform to spring off of. We are having sucess when we give all of us to these people, whether or not there are many baptisms, the people of God will know that He loves them and that to me is success. We found Nazar and Alyona and a few other older children in our branch who still have not been baptized and there is not work for them and so now we get to go for it. We took the branch presidents daughter out with a whole bunch of the "lost sheeps" address and went to go find them and give them our information and try to make contact, we visited less actives who just have it hard and need a little lifting, we contacted on every bus on every street and we smiled and we talked MORe and MORE and more until  I just felt my soul soaring. I love the oppurtunity I have to give it my all right now.

These two kids became two new investigators this week. Their desire to know more and to do good is so real. Life is not really simple here for a lot of people. There is a lot of hard things, but these wonderful kids are so happy then are right now living with their father for a time while their mom is in war. They came to church with us yesterday and it was the bomb.com. We sat in Primary with them and it was so fun. Their dad is a member but often has to work on Sunday so he was not there. We walked them home after church and the little girl fell on this little patch of ice. Not really hard but then she could not get up!!! it was sooooo funny. we all tried to help her and after about 5 mintues of her just laying on this little patch of ice, my books everywhere and us laughing uncontrollably and people staring from everywhere we realize that we are the luckiest peope in the world to know each other. We are working for baptism with them. they are INCREDIBLE and an answer to my prayers and goals. I love them with all my heart. Someday I hope to have kids like them. :) 

my friend

oh and this other girl came with us last night to go find the lost sheep from our branch it was an adventure. :) 

We laughed and we had fun and it is all an adventure. We are "Catchers of Men" (Luke 5:10)

We "hold up the Lord's standards, clearly and without apology." -Elder Eyring

We teach with love. We "LOVE LIFE." -Elder Hinckley

I have a testimony of the plan of our Heavenly Father. It is the only right way to him. We want to return to Him. To be with him forever. Someday, when that day comes, I know that if we did all we could to prepare to live righteously, to be joyful here on earth; by believing in Christ, repenting, getting baptized and remembering our covenants with God, always being worthy to listen to the Holy Ghost and using that gift wisely to endure to the end in all things, he will welcome us into his loving arms. He will smile and hug us tightly, proud to have us come home. Proud of the progression we made and all the good we did for Him. He knows us. He loves us. He takes care of us. And with Him, anything is possible. That I know. I want you to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He came here to make salvation and this plan possible. He is our perfect example and our perfect friend. He LOVES US. And we love Him. So let us serve him and remember him every single day of our lives.

I love you all. Have a wonderful great happy happy week!!

Love,
Cectpa Karren

Park Alexandrea

Last P Day

We live in a giant snow globe!

This crazy gorgeous place

Sister Young and me

Snow angel!

Our snowy adventures

We are snow angels ;)

Sister Young

My comp Sister Young got really sick

I took care of her because I love her

I really wanted to meet the sheep named Chester. He is a legend in our mission. You can even ride him. I probably needed to ask if we could but we just ran into his pen and we almost died because I thought he wanted us to pet him, but he just head butted us over and over and stomped on my feet. So then alyona (Stan's wife) showed us how to do it right later and she hit him in the head over and over with this really giant sharp stick and she just rode him. It was an amazing moment. And now I am afraid of sheep. 

Visiting Stan's family again